The Essence of Prayer and Meditation

In this meditation, we allow experience to be as it is without resistance. Whatever is, we are present in the midst of that experience, pleasant or unpleasant. Awareness, ‘I am’, is the essential, changeless element of all experience. It is not itself an experience but makes all experience possible. Just as water is the essential ingredient in all drinks but cannot be tasted, awareness is the essential ingredient in all experience. Awareness may acquire the taste of depression or excitement, but it is present in midst of either experience. Allow the focus of attention to sink into its source, where awareness of being outshines awareness of objects. This is recognition, not becoming. We are not human beings, but infinite being clothed temporarily in human experience. This return to being is referred to in the West as prayer and in the East as meditation.

In this meditation, we allow experience to be as it is without resistance. Whatever is, we are present in the midst of that experience, pleasant or unpleasant. Awareness, ‘I am’, is the essential, changeless element of all experience. It is not itself an experience but makes all experience possible. Just as water is the essential ingredient in all drinks but cannot be tasted, awareness is the essential ingredient in all experience. Awareness may acquire the taste of depression or excitement, but it is present in midst of either experience. Allow the focus of attention to sink into its source, where awareness of being outshines awareness of objects. This is recognition, not becoming. We are not human beings, but infinite being clothed temporarily in human experience. This return to being is referred to in the West as prayer and in the East as meditation.